Photosynthetica 2015, 53(2):250-258 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-015-0100-y

Impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the growth, water status, and photosynthesis of hybrid poplar under drought stress and recovery

T. Liu1, M. Sheng2, C. Y. Wang2, H. Chen2, Z. Li3, M. Tang1,*
1 State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Arid-land Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
2 College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
3 College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

Poplars (Populus spp.) are widely used in the pulp and paper industry and as bioenergy resources. Poplars require a large amount of water for biomass accumulation and lack of water is a limiting factor for poplar growth. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been previously reported to afford some plant species with greater resistance to drought stress. However, the effects of AM fungi on hybrid poplar under drought stress and recovery have not been studied. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the AM fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, on the growth, water status, chlorophyll (Chl) content and fluorescence, and photosynthesis of poplar seedlings. The experiment was divided into three stages. At each stage of the experiment, the seedlings were subjected to a different watering regime: well-watered (prior stress), drought, and then rewatering (recovery). Measurements were taken at the end of each stage of the experiment. The results showed that mycorrhizal plants had a higher net photosynthetic rate and Chl fluorescence compared with nonmycorrhizal plants, regardless of the stage. Mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants showed different responses to drought stress: mycorrhizal plants showed better water-use efficiency and water uptake under drought stress conditions. In general, the poplar seedlings that formed the AM symbiosis with R. irregularis showed enhanced growth and reduced loss of biomass during the drought stress compared with the nonmycorrhizal seedlings.

Additional key words: drought tolerance; gas exchange; nonphotochemical quenching; photosynthetic capacity; relative water content

Received: December 14, 2013; Accepted: August 18, 2014; Published: June 1, 2015  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Liu, T., Sheng, M., Wang, C.Y., Chen, H., Li, Z., & Tang, M. (2015). Impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the growth, water status, and photosynthesis of hybrid poplar under drought stress and recovery. Photosynthetica53(2), 250-258. doi: 10.1007/s11099-015-0100-y
Download citation

References

  1. Ai J., Tschirner U.: Fiber length and pulping characteristics of switchgrass, alfalfa stems, hybrid poplar and willow biomasses. - Bioresource Technol. 101: 215-221, 2010. Go to original source...
  2. Aroca R., Del Mar Alguacil M., Vernieri P., Ruiz-Lozano J.M.: Plant responses to drought stress and exogenous ABA application are modulated differently by mycorrhization in tomato and an ABA-deficient mutant (sitiens). - Microb. Ecol. 56: 704-719, 2008. Go to original source...
  3. Augé R.M.: Water relations, drought and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. - Mycorrhiza 11: 3-42, 2001. Go to original source...
  4. Beniwal R.S., Langenfeld-Heyser R., Polle A.: Ectomycorrhiza and hydrogel protect hybrid poplar from water deficit and unravel plastic responses of xylem anatomy. - Environ. Exp. Bot. 69: 189-197, 2010. Go to original source...
  5. Borowicz V.A.: The impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on strawberry tolerance to root damage and drought stress. - Pedobiologia 53: 265-270, 2010. Go to original source...
  6. Cao X., Jia J.B., Li H. et al.: Photosynthesis, water use efficiency and stable carbon isotope composition are associated with anatomical properties of leaf and xylem in six poplar species. - Plant Biol. 14: 612-620, 2012. Go to original source...
  7. Castillo F.J.: Antioxidative protection in the inducible CAM plant Sedum album L. following the imposition of severe water stress and recovery. - Oecologia 107: 469-477, 1996. Go to original source...
  8. Cicatelli A., Lingua G., Todeschini V. et al.: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi restore normal growth in a white poplar clone grown on heavy metal-contaminated soil, and this is associated with upregulation of foliar metallothionein and polyamine biosynthetic gene expression. - Ann. Bot.-London 106: 791-802, 2010. Go to original source...
  9. Colla G., Rouphael Y., Cardarelli M. et al.: Alleviation of salt stress by arbuscular mycorrhizal in zucchini plants grown at low and high phosphorus concentration. - Biol. Fert. Soils 44: 501-509, 2008. Go to original source...
  10. Gholamhoseini M., Ghalavand A., Dolatabadian A. et al.: Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation on growth, yield, nutrient uptake and irrigation water productivity of sunflowers grown under drought stress. - Agr. Water Manage. 117: 106-114, 2013. Go to original source...
  11. Gong M.G., Tang M., Chen H. et al.: Effects of two Glomus species on the growth and physiological performance of Sophor davidii seedlings under water stress. - New Forest. 44: 399-408, 2013. Go to original source...
  12. Housman D.C., Powers H.H., Collins A.D., Belnap J.: Carbon and nitrogen fixation differ between successional stages of biological soil crusts in the Colorado Plateau and Chihuahuan Desert. - J. Arid Environ. 66: 620-634, 2006. Go to original source...
  13. Huang Z., Zou Z.R., He C.X. et al.: Physiological and photosynthetic responses of melon (Cucumis melo L.) seedlings to three Glomus species under water deficit. - Plant Soil 339: 391-399, 2011. Go to original source...
  14. Jiang W.X., Gou G.Q., Ding Y.L.: Influences of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on growth and mineral element absorption of chenglu hybrid bamboo seedlings. - Pak. J. Bot. 45: 303-310, 2013.
  15. Johansson J.F., Paul L.R., Finlay R.D.: Microbial interactions in the mycorrhizosphere and their significance for sustainable agriculture. - FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 48: 1-13, 2004. Go to original source...
  16. Kaya C., Higgs D., Kirnak H., Tas I.: Mycorrhizal colonisation improves fruit yield and water use efficiency in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Thunb.) grown under well-watered and water-stressed conditions. - Plant Soil 253: 287-292, 2003. Go to original source...
  17. Khasa P.D., Chakravarty P., Robertson A. et al.: The mycorrhizal status of selected poplar clones introduced in Alberta. - Biomass Bioenerg. 22: 99-104, 2002. Go to original source...
  18. Lopez-Aguillon R., Garbaye J.: Some aspects of a double symbiosis with ectomycorrhizal and VAM fungi. - Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 29: 263-266, 1990. Go to original source...
  19. Luo Z.B., Polle A.: Wood composition and energy content in a poplar short rotation plantation on fertilized agricultural land in a future CO2 atmosphere. - Global Change Biol. 15: 38-47, 2009. Go to original source...
  20. Marjanoviæ ®., Uwe N., Hampp R.: Mycorrhiza formation enhances adaptive response of hybrid poplar to drought. - Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1048: 496-499, 2005. Go to original source...
  21. Muthukumar T., Udaiyan K.: Growth response and nutrient utilization of Casuarina equisetifolia seedlings inoculated with bioinoculants under tropical nursery conditions. - New Forest. 40: 101-118, 2010. Go to original source...
  22. Nelson C., Safir G.: Water relations of well-watered, mycorrhizal, and non-mycorrhizal onion plants. - J. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 107: 271-274, 1982. Go to original source...
  23. Paradis R., Dalpé Y., Charest C.: The combined effect of arbuscular mycorrhizas and short-term cold exposure on wheat. - New Phytol. 129: 637-642, 1995. Go to original source...
  24. Phillips J.M., Hayman D.S.: Improved procedures for clearing roots and staining parasitic and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for rapid assessment of infection. - T. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 55: 158-161, 1970. Go to original source...
  25. Qiao G., Wen X.P., Yu L.F., Ji X.B.: Identification of differentially expressed genes preferably related to drought response in pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) inoculated by arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF). - Acta Physiol. Plant. 34: 1711-1721. 2012. Go to original source...
  26. Qiu Z.Y., Wang L.H., Zhou Q.: Effects of bisphenol A on growth, photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence in above-ground organs of soybean seedlings. - Chemosphere 90: 1274-1280, 2012. Go to original source...
  27. Quoreshi A.M., Khasa D.P.: Effectiveness of mycorrhizal inoculation in the nursery on root colonization, growth, and nutrient uptake of aspen and balsam poplar. - Biomass Bioenerg. 32: 381-391, 2008. Go to original source...
  28. Regier N., Streb S., Cocozza C. et al.: Drought tolerance of two black poplar (Populus nigra L.) clones: contribution of carbohydrates and oxidative stress defence. - Plant Cell Environ. 32: 1724-1736, 2009. Go to original source...
  29. Rooney D.C., Prosser J.I., Bending G.D. et al.: Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation on the growth and phosphorus nutrition of Populus euramericana c.v. Ghoy. - Biomass Bioenerg. 35: 4605-4612, 2011. Go to original source...
  30. Sannazzaro A.I., Ruiz O.A., Albertó E.O., Menéndez A.B.: Alleviation of salt stress in Lotus glaber by Glomus intraradices. - Plant Soil 285: 279-287, 2006. Go to original source...
  31. Sheng M., Tang M., Chen H. et al.: Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizae on photosynthesis and water status of maize plants under salt stress. - Mycorrhiza 18: 287-296, 2008. Go to original source...
  32. Sheng M., Tang M., Chen H. et al.: Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizae on the root system of maize plants under salt stress. - Can. J. Microbiol. 55: 879-886, 2009. Go to original source...
  33. Shrestha Y.H., Ishii T., Kadoya K.: Effect of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the growth, photosynthesis, transpiration and the distribution of photosynthates of bearing satsuma mandarin (Citrus reticulata) trees. - J. Jpn. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 64: 517-525, 1995. Go to original source...
  34. Sikes B.A., Powell J.R, Rillig M.C.: Deciphering the relative contributions of multiple functions within plant-microbe symbioses. - Ecology 91: 1591-1597, 2010. Go to original source...
  35. Smith, S.E., Read, D.J.: Arbuscular mycorrhizas. - In: Smith, S.E., Read, D.J. (ed.): Mycorrhizal Symbiosis. Pp. 31-134. Academic Press, New York 2008. Go to original source...
  36. Songsri P., Jogloy S., Holbrook C.C. et al.: Association of root, specific leaf area and SPAD chlorophyll meter reading to water use efficiency of peanut under different available soil water. - Agr. Water Manage. 96: 790-798, 2009. Go to original source...
  37. Vaòková R., Dobrá J., ©torchová H.: Recovery from drought stress in tobacco: an active process associated with the reversal of senescence in some plant parts and the sacrifice of others. - Plant Signal. Behav. 7: 19-21, 2012. Go to original source...
  38. Wu Q.S., Xia R.X.: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi influence growth, osmotic adjustment and photosynthesis of citrus under well-watered and water stress conditions. - J. Plant Physiol. 163: 417-425, 2006. Go to original source...
  39. Wu Q.S., Zou Y.N., He X.H.: Contributions of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to growth, photosynthesis, root morphology and ionic balance of citrus seedlings under salt stress. - Acta Physiol. Plant. 32: 297-304, 2010. Go to original source...
  40. Xiao X.W., Yang F., Zhang S. et al.: Physiological and proteomic responses of two contrasting Populus cathayana populations to drought stress. - Physiol. Plantarum 136: 150-168, 2009. Go to original source...
  41. Zai X.M., Zhu S.N., Qin P. et al.: Effect of Glomus mosseae on chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and chloroplast ultrastructure of beach plum (Prunus maritima) under NaCl stress. - Photosynthetica 50: 323-328, 2012. Go to original source...
  42. Zhu X.C., Song F.B., Xu H.W.: Arbuscular mycorrhizae improves low temperature stress in maize via alterations in host water status and photosynthesis. - Plant Soil 331: 129-137, 2010. Go to original source...
  43. Zhu X.C., Song F.B., Liu S.Q., Liu T.D.: Arbuscular mycorrhizae improves photosynthesis and water status of Zea mays L. under drought stress. - Plant Soil Environ. 58: 186-191, 2012. Go to original source...